The disclosures herein relate generally to computer systems and more particularly to a method and system for testing hardware and software configurations in computer system.
Computer systems have numerous connections by which hardware devices can be added. These connections include expansion slots, input/output (I/O) ports, and drive connections. A computer manufacturer or vendor, such as a build-to-order computer manufacturer, may offer its customers a choice from any number of different devices for each connection in a computer system, resulting in a large number of possible hardware combinations. In order to minimize time and costs during software and hardware validation of a computer system, only a small subset of these valid hardware combinations can actually be tested. As a result, many problems or other issues relating various hardware and software configurations arise in the factory.
It would be desirable to be able to test a large number of hardware and software configurations of a computer system without incurring substantial cost or increasing test durations. Accordingly, what is needed is a method and system for testing hardware and software configurations in a computer system.